In a general sort of way I learn that Portland is planning to spend $613 million on bicycling over the next 20 years. Details are few, the picture uninspiring.
Hopefully, some bike paths will be built, and doing some painting of lanes is probably a good idea. But my idea of making bicycle commuting more attractive is simple- make sure the riders are not run over by cars when they use their legal half lane on any street, and give them someplace to shower and change clothes after their ride to work.
This, obviously, is a little harder to accomplish than just sending out the painting crews you already have to paint some more. But it also has the potential to unlock the powers of the individual cyclist and use all of the streets we already own.
And how hard would it really be? Build a shower and locker room each year in some major institution. Spend a million a year paying police officers to ride around on bicycles ticketing rude drivers (and get the benefits of more police monitoring the streets from eye level).
Or- perhaps the most direct approach- simply dictate that everyone employed in the Portland projects ride a bicycle to work.
Because it’s hard to escape the impression that Portland could spend $613 million and most of it could go to people who drove to work- and try as they might, people who drive to work are not really going to be understanding the problem. And in a very basic sense, we can’t build a whole new street system for bicyclists. About 20% (or more!) of the city is now street, and that’s a significant cut of the tax base. It’s not a liability we can duplicate, and not an asset we can waste. Put some kind of cap on how much of the money is going to be used for painted lanes, pamphlets, and classes on safe bicycling. And make sure you spend part of the money on something that actually makes a difference for an actual rider. Is that too much to ask?
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